Bucs win a barnburner

What a wacky game. So many crazy things happened in this one, and it swung back and forth so many times…it was both fun and incredibly frustrating to watch. But…all’s well that ends well.

As I mentioned in the GameDay, Edinson Volquez is vulnerable in the first inning. The Bucs certainly took advantage of that, with identical-looking back to back opposite field shots by Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata to lead off the game. Boom. 2-0. Volquez continued to struggle…Lyle Overbay walked, Neil Walker doubled, and two more walks (after a Pedro K) brought home a third run. Ronny Cedeno made it four with a sac fly. The Pirates sent nine men to the plate in the first.

Jeff Karstens pitched well early on with the lead, pounding the strike zone and going right after Reds hitters (as he always does). And just as they always seem to do, the opposing hitters seem caught off guard initially but then adjust and start hitting the ball hard (or Jeff runs out of gas, or both). Karstens was throwing well early on (and struck out six), but the Reds started to get to him and chipped away at the lead…and they eventually tied the game and took the lead when Karstens’ inevitable collapse came in the 5th.

Volquez (as he’s done all year) settled in after the first and kept the Bucs quiet for a few innings, but Garrett Jones quickly responded to the Reds’ rally with a solo homer to tie the game. It was a classic pop-up-turned GABP bomb, but the Bucs needed it badly. Huge shift in momentum.

Later in the sixth, Ronny Cedeno drew a rare walk (at which point Volquez left the game). John Bowker pinch-hit with 2 outs, and (FINALLY!) delivered with an absolute laser beam double to the wall, scoring Cedeno to give the Bucs the lead. That was great to see – Bowker has looked pretty lost at the plate in his limited action so far this year, and he absolutely destroyed that ball.

Jose Veras was called upon to protect the lead, and made it through an incredibly stressful inning. The Reds loaded up the bases for reigning MVP Joey Votto with 1 out, and Veras came up huge with a K. Scott Rolen nearly made it moot by rolling one towards right field, but Walker pretty much fell on the ball and fired to first just in time for the inning-ending out.

Clint Hurdle decided to stick with Veras (who topped 30 pitches in the 6th) for the 7th, and it cost him. Jay Bruce homered to tie the game. Chris Resop cleaned up after that, but the damage had been done and it was another new ballgame.

The top of the 8th was when things really got weird. Jones led off with a bizarre infield single. Chris Snyder was next and squared to bunt him over, but the plan apparently changed to a hit-and-run later in the at-bat. Dusty Baker sniffed it out, but Ramon Hernandez botched the pitch-out and Jones safely stole second. Snyder then bunted for real, and the pitcher Logan Ondrusek completely failed to pick it up. First and third, no outs. Ronny Cedeno was next. What did HE do? How about another bunt? The bunt appeared to be Cedeno’s decision, not Hurdle’s…since Jones at third did not break at all until the bunt was safely on the ground. As a result, he was thrown out at home (though replays showed he may have been safe). It was a dumb play by Cedeno to bunt, and a dumb play by Jones to run.

Anyway, the inning wasn’t done and Steve Pearce (who came in for Pedro on a double switch) popped up for the second out. Cutch was the last hope of the inning. He fell behind in the count, but did a fantastic job picking up his teammates with a line drive single over short. Snyder scored from second…but WAIT! Cedeno was chugging to third! The throw….PHEW safe. Replays indicated that had Cedeno been called out (and it was VERY close), Snyder (who didn’t let up, but is slow) hadn’t quite scored, so the run wouldn’t have counted. Nearly an epic disaster, and a completely idiotic move by Cedeno to try for third.

As Bucco Nation was collectively cursing out Ronny, I tweeted ” Who wants to bet that Cedeno makes a crucial error in the 8th or 9th?” Seemed like a pretty sure thing at the time. Evan Meek came out to pitch the 8th, and allowed a 1-out single, then a walk. Hurdle had seen enough and went to Hanrahan for the rare 5-out save. Rolen was up next, and again nearly delivered the big hit….but Ronny Freaking Cedeno made a diving grab and flipped to second for the inning ending DP. Unreal. Ronny in a nutshell. This is why he drives us insane.

The Bucs did nothing in the top of the ninth, so Hanrahan had no margin for error in the bottom. He got the leadoff man with no problem. Bruce was next, and tapped one out in front of the plate. Snyder wildly threw to first and it went over Overbay’s head. Walker was astutely backing up and picked the ball up over near the tarp, and once he noticed Bruce take the slightest movement towards second, he fired back to first, and Bruce was tagged out. What a heads-up-play. Great stuff.

As everyone was still laughing at Bruce, Cedeno struck again. He for some reason assumed Walker was going to take a chopper up the middle that was clearly his ball, and could have been the game ending groundout. Instead it was another maddening Ronny moment and a base hit. Hanrahan then allowed a base hit and started to throw all over the place, including a wild pitch to put the tying run at 3rd and the winning run at 2nd. He walked another to load the bases. Tense times. Joel was out of his element. The dangerous Drew Stubbs was at the plate….and flew out to center. RAISE IT!

Sloppy, ugly, stressful, whatever. We’ll take the win. Back within a game of .500 and at least a split in Cincinnati.